filmy
/ˈfɪlmi/
"filmy" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“filmy” is uncommon English (frequency #81,327 among 2,507 “F” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #81,327
- frequency rank, English
- 2,507
- “F” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Resembling or made of a thin film; gauzy.
Corpus desk
Index EN-filmy · filmy · English
filmy · rank #81,327 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #81,327
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,507
- PHOTO-FINISH FIO
Nearest frequency peer: FIO (+1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Long-tail ranks near “filmy”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- Ferranti
Ferranti
18,680 corpus weight
- Festivus
Festivus
18,679 corpus weight
- filmy
filmy
18,674 corpus weight
- FIO
FIO
18,673 corpus weight
- flapjack
flapjack
18,672 corpus weight
- FLOTUS
FLOTUS
18,669 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “filmy” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | filmy |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈfɪlmi/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #81,327 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “filmy” in English
Rare enough to double-check
filmy is uncommon English at frequency #81,327 among 2,507 “F” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈfɪlmi/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
filmy has no tracked misspelling variants, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From film + -y. Cognate with Middle Dutch velmich, vilmich (“filmy, membranous”). Doublet of filmic. The correct English form is filmy, spelled F-I-L-M-Y.
Definition
- 1Resembling or made of a thin film; gauzy.
- 2Covered by (or as if by) a film; hazy.
- 3Filmlike; resembling a motion picture.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how filmy appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The eyes were small, and of a dead filmy black; they said nothing, even when fixed upon you.
1894, Ivan Dexter, Talmud: A Strange Narrative of Central Australia, published in serial form in Port Adelaide News and Lefevre's Peninsula Advertiser (SA), Chapter XVI, http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks16/1600641.txt On the following morning the head of Strezlecki Creek was passed and in the dim distance could be seen the filmy blue outlines of Mount Arrows…
Etymology
From film + -y. Cognate with Middle Dutch velmich, vilmich (“filmy, membranous”). Doublet of filmic.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "filmy", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).